The Shadow Queen
by KrazyPythorFanGirl
Summary: "Never trust a snake" he insisted. He didn't understand isolation, and again, she was alone. Even worse, she lost her one chance to free the Serpentine.


**Summary**

Wu knew how to isolate people.

Before she met Wu, Aia didn't have a single friend nor family. With Wu she finally had something, and for the first time in her life, she was happy. The pain of isolation was a feeling she thought they shared, but she was wrong. He didn't understand her need to free the Serpentine, why keeping them isolated would only make things worse for the snakes and the people of Ninjago. "Never trust a snake" he insisted. He didn't understand isolation, and again, she was alone. Even worse, she lost her one chance to free the Serpentine.

Or so she thought. Wu may not know what isolation felt like, but his nephew is looking pretty lonely. If she learned anything from her Sensei, it's how to manipulate that.

It's a good thing Wu knew how to isolate people.

**Rise of the Shadows**

Wu knew there were many problems trying to get his ninja to work together. The young men had allowed their arrogance and independence cloud their judgement many times while obtaining the golden weapons of Spinjitzu. Kai was especially intent on saving his sister without the help of others. But in the end the ninja came together and were now working hard on sharpening their teamwork.

"Ok Cole, I got your back."

"Thanks Kai. Jay, aim for the head!"

"Got it. Zane, duck!"

"... It appears I died."

If only they chose to do it by actually training instead of playing video games.

Jay yelled as he roughly smashed the buttons on his controller. "What the hell, Zane?! You know we're low on revives!"

"I'm sorry Jay, but it seems that I have yet to get the hang of this game." Zane had never picked up a video game before he met the other ninja. When he revealed this fact to his new friends, they had insisted that he play after they got over their shock.

Cole intervened. "Quit whining Jay. After we defeat the boss, we will be able to buy some more." Jay was that kind of player that only uses items when they 'really' need it, but the thing is, Jay never believes they really need it.

Yes, Wu was happy they were finally getting along, but it was their duty to protect Ninjago from Garmadon and any other foe who threatened its peace. They lost their motivation to train after Nya was saved and Garmadon fled through a vortex. He didn't know how he'd be able to convince his pupils to train, but he knew where he could start.

He quickly ran to the other side of the room without the ninja noticing his presence, which either said something about his skills, or the ninjas' lack of them. He stopped right next to the T.V.'s socket and disconnected one of its plugs. The screen turned black, and the ninja's faces morphed into horrified expressions.

Jay yelled. "NONONONONO, OUR PROGRESS!" He noticed that only one plug was taken out and he followed where it led. "Oh good, he only unplugged the monitor. Quickly Zane, pause it!" Zane complied and pushed a button on his controller.

Cole turned to Wu. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because, you ninja have grown complacent in this peace, when you should be training. Garmadon may be gone for now, but he will return, and if you ninja aren't ready, your weapons will be easily lost to him, and so will Ninjago." Wu returned.

Kai snorted. "You worry too much Sensei. Look at what we've done. We learned Spinjitzu, found the golden weapons, saved my sister, tamed four dragons, and made the Tornado of Creation without killing ourselves, all in a short amount of time if I might add." Wu shook his head.

"Yes, you four have done some impressive feats, but do not let your victories get to your heads. There are powers you have yet to unlock in your weapons," he pointed to the weapons laying their feet, "and in yourselves." His eyes traveled to each of the ninja with a curious light in his eyes.

Cole smirked. "Well if you want us to be unlocking the powers within us and our weapons, then how about this move." He took his scythe in his hands and used to pick up the plug that Wu dropped, and pushed it back into the wall socket. The T.V. lit back up revealing big letters forming the words 'GAME OVER'.

Jay's eye twitched. "Zane, I thought you PAUSED IT!"

"It seems I pressed the wrong button." Zane replied while glancing on his controller. Jay weakly squeaked out "our progress" as the other ninja groaned. The ninja were about to reset the boss fight when they heard the sound of hurried steps coming towards the room. They look toward the doorway just in time to see Nya as she ran into the room.

"Lord Garmadon has returned!" She shouted, "He was just seen approaching Jamanakai Village!" The ninja quickly stumbled to their feet. Their eyes darted around the floor, looking for their weapons and nearly hitting the others trying to pick them up. Wu and Nya followed them as they ran to their dragons and struggled to climb them.

Nya approached Kai. "Take me with you. I'm sure you could use all the help you can get."

"And watch you get hurt? No way, little sis. You stay here while we ninja take care of this." He answered while dramatically reaching for the dragon's reins. Nya narrowed her eyes while she picked up the reins and handed them to her brother. Kai gave her a nervous chuckle and took off with the others. After they all had left, Nya headed over to Wu.

"Do you think they'll be alright? They don't seem to be in the best condition to fight your brother." She asked, worried for her brother and his friends.

"I have faith the ninja will safely return to us," Wu replied. Nya gave him a smile of relief and headed back to the Monastery. After a moment Wu followed and headed back to his room.

He did not believe the ninja would be fighting his brother today. His smoke visions would have revealed if such a dark force had returned to Ninjago. Right now, the biggest issue at hand were the ninjas' lack of motivation. He needed something that would cause his pupils to want to train. Perhaps one of his father's writings would give him an idea.

He had a scroll in his personal bag that determined the fates of the ninja, and maybe it might give him the answers he needed.

'Now,' Wu thought as he scanned his room for his bag, 'if only I remember where I had placed it.'

Kai couldn't think of a better way to travel than on a dragon. Before he became a ninja, Kai hadn't really seen much of Ninjago. He spent his life in Ignacia with his sister running their father's shop. Ever since he left, he realized that there was so much of the world he didn't know he was missing out on, and the best way to experience it was on the back of Flame. And his friends seemed to agree.

"Woohoo!" Jay yelled. "This will never get old!"

"You said it!" Cole shouted back. He didn't know why he was so scared of dragons in the first place, well, beside their sharp teeth, large size, and dangerous breath attacks. Still, once you get past all that, what's left was a flying lizard who just wants to be loved. "What about you Zane? You've been quiet ever since we left. You know, we aren't that mad about the video game." He could just barely hear Jay say, "speak for yourself".

"That isn't what's bothering me. I am just thinking about what Sensei said before we left," Zane said.

Kai looked at Zane. "You mean about unlocking our weapons and ourselves?"

Jay flew closer. "If you think about it, we don't know much about these weapons other than they are really, really old," He added. "Huh, you can say the same about Sensei Wu."

Zane grasped his dragon's reins. "The weapons are indeed mysterious, but we already know that they are powerful. What I want to know is the power inside us. Why is it we have these powers, and what else will we be able to do?"

Cole smirked. "What I do know is how I'm going to use them, and that is to stop Garmadon!"

He looked down and saw Jamanakai Village getting closer.

The ninja gave each other knowing looks just before holding up their dragon's reins and recklessly speeding towards the village. Seconds later, the dragons landed on the outskirts of the village, and the sound of argument was heard in even less time.

"How did it feel choking on my dust," bragged Kai.

"What do you mean? I couldn't see with you lagging so far back," retorted Jay.

"Very funny guys, but we all really know who the winner here," Cole added.

"I thank you Cole, but there is no need to argue for my sake," remarked Zane.

"That's no-" The argument was cut off by the sound of screams. The ninja quickly grabbed their golden weapons and headed towards the village's center. They saw the villager running into their homes and locking their doors. The ninja looked in the direction they were running from. They noticed a figure moving towards them slowly. Just as the ninja were preparing to strike, the figured revealed himself…

… to be Lloyd Garmadon. All the ninja groaned in frustration as the young Garmadon placed himself in the center of the village.

Jay couldn't believe it. "We wasted all that time coming here when we could've been playing video games. And for what, the wrong Garmadon! Isn't he supposed to be in that dumb school, Dorkly's or whatever?" The ninja ignored his wining and turned their attention to Lloyd.

"Jamanakai Village, you will bring me all your candy, or face the wrath of Lloyd Garmadon! Muhahahahaha!" the boy shouted. The people of Jamanakai left their homes irritated and glared at the child for causing panic. Lloyd started to get nervous when the villagers didn't meet his demands.

"I said, bring me candy! Or, or, I'll uh… release the Serpentine, yeah. I'll open their tombs and make them force you to surrender your candy!" He smirked, proud with himself for coming up with such an evil idea.

Jay squeaked. "Did he just say the Serpentine?!" He looked around nervously, as if one would pop up then and there.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me your buying this crap. Next you'll be crying over the boogeyman," He mocked.

Zane didn't agree with him. "The Serpentine are real, Kai. Long ago they were sealed within five tombs to stop the fighting between themselves and the people in Ninjago." Cole nodded in agreement.

"Don't tell me you're agreeing with this nonsense," Kai asked Cole.

"What, giant flying lizards are acceptable, but talking snakes is just going a step too far?"

"Look, it doesn't matter. Let's just deal with the brat and head back home," urged Kai. He didn't like that he was losing this argument three to one.

Back to the matter at hand, the ninja returned their focus onto Lloyd, who was currently being pelted by vegetables.

"Yuck! Vegetables? You dare mock Lloyd Garmadon like this? I swear I will have my revenge and-" Cole picked him up and hurled over his shoulder. "-hey! Put me down this instant or prepare to feel my wrath!"

"Okay folks, show's over! Nothing to see here!" Cole shouted over to the crowds while Lloyd struggled on his shoulder. Being the earth elemental, Cole was the strongest ninja in the group. No one could get out of that hold.

The ninja headed over to one of the stores and Cole propped Lloyd over one of the signs.

The villagers and the ninja laughed as he struggled to get down.

"Alright boys," Kai said, "it looks like this problem is all settled." He started to leave when Zane stopped him.

"Are you sure? I have the feeling that we shouldn't leave him like this." Jay rolled his eyes.

"Leave the punk. He already wasted our time today. Besides, it's not like the brat is actually going to release the Serpentine. He doesn't even know where they are." Zane thought for a moment.

"You are right," He conceded

The ninja left the flailing Lloyd and headed back to their dragons, ready to put the afternoon behind them. As they approached their respective dragon, Kai noticed that there was something off. Upon a closer inspection, he saw that the bag attached to Flame wasn't his.

"Hey guys, did I take one of your bags?" He asked his fellow ninja. Jay walked over and shook his head.

"No, don't recognize it."

"It's not mine either," Cole said.

"It is not mine," Zane answered, "but I do believe it belongs to Sensei. You must have taken it as we were rushing over here." Kai nodded and opened the bag. He noticed that the bag only contained a scroll and he picked it up for further inspection.

"Hey," Cole questioned, "should we really be looking through Sensei's things?"

Kai thought for a moment. "I don't see what the problem is. It's not liked the old man is keeping things from us. What's the harm in looking at some old scroll?" He opened the scroll but was quickly disappointed that he could not understand a single thing in it. "Is this code? Maybe Sensei really does have some things he's hiding from us."

Zane looked over Kai's shoulder. "That's not a code, Kai, but the Ancient Language." He explained.

"You can read it?" Kai said as he handed the scroll to Zane.

"I can recognize enough of the language to decipher it." Zane took a moment to look over the scroll. "It seems to be a prophecy."

"About what?" Jay asked.

"About us. According to the scroll, one of us will stand out from the others and become the green ninja."

"The green ninja?" Kai inquired. "What does that mean?"

Jay snorted. "Obviously it means that the ninja wears green."

Zane gave him a questioning look. "Not just that Jay, but apparently the green ninja will possess all of our elements and go on to lead the other ninja and defeat the dark lord, who I am assuming means Garmadon."

Jay looked excited. "Whoa, did you hear that guys. I'm gonna have so much power!" He wondered if Nya liked the color green too.

Kai laughed. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? It's obvious that I am stronger, therefore more likely to be the green ninja."

"Strength isn't everything," Zane added, "and I was the one who translated the scroll, which means that I will be the one who'll lead the ninja."

"Guys stop!" Interjected Cole. He never liked it when the others fought, and he would not let this new piece of information tear apart the team. "It is obvious that none of us are fit to lead the team, and Sensei clearly saw that. We will return the scroll to him and forget what it even said." He knew that it was easier said than done. Even he couldn't stop thinking about how cool it would be to be the green ninja, but they couldn't let the scroll get in the way of their friendship.

Kai grabbed the scroll and placed it back in the bag. "Your right, Cole. Let's just go home and get back to training."

Jay stretched his arms as he approached Wisp. "Clearly we've been holding it off for far too long." He hopped onto his dragon and flew off, the other ninja following in tow.

Each ninja were silent on their way back to the monastery. They were too distracted by the day's event, and a single thought danced in their heads:

"Am I the green ninja?"

After a while, Lloyd realized that struggling was futile. When he stopped making a scene the villagers got bored and wandered off to their jobs.

He couldn't believe how those ninja dared to humiliate him, the son of Lord Garmadon. He would have his revenge and make them pay! If he had more power, or an army, then he could show those ninja what happened when you mess with Lloyd Garmadon!

He stewed in his thoughts for a while, trying to think up a plan that would help enact his revenge. While deep in his thoughts, Lloyd didn't notice that a person walked up to him until he felt someone picking him up off the sign and placing him back on the ground. He looked up to see a young woman, not too much taller than him. She had short black hair and wore dark clothes, except for a bright multicolored bracelet on her right wrist which clashed with her outfit. She also wasn't wearing any shoes, which was a bit strange.

"Thank you," Lloyd said to the woman. She gave a slight chuckle.

"The future dark lord thanking me? That doesn't seem very evil." Lloyd blushed at his mistake. "Now, now. No need to be embarrassed. It's obvious you're new to this, and great evil isn't created in a day. It appears you just need a little help. Lucky for you, I'm feeling generous today."

"You're going to help me? Why?" Lloyd couldn't understand why some random lady would help him conquer Ninjago. If she knew how, then why not do it herself.

"It is good to ask questions. You can never know who you can trust." She gave him a devilish smirk. "Sadly, there is something that is keeping me in this village, so I cannot pursue any of my goals outside of it. But you are free to go anywhere you want, Lloyd, and so you can use my ideas instead."

"Seriously? That's great!" Lloyd cheered. "So how will you help me?"

"You said something about freeing the Serpentine." The mysterious woman inquired.

"Yeah, but that was mostly an empty threat. If I knew where they were, then I would have the perfect revenge!"

"Well, I just happen to know of a tomb not too far from Jamanakai Village." Lloyd couldn't believe his luck. Not only was this woman willing to help, he doesn't have to break his evil promise to the villagers.

The woman quickly explained how to get to the tomb. Apparently, it was in the Frozen Wasteland, one of the coldest places in Ninjago. Lloyd had no idea how he'd get there without freezing to death. He didn't have any winter clothing, nor did he have the money to buy any.

"I have some warm clothes you can take. I can't have you dying before you reach your destination," the woman said, as if reading his thoughts. Lloyd's eyes widened in shock. First this lady helped him down, then gave him directions to a serpentine tomb, and now she's even giving him clothes? Was this woman evil or an angel? Or an evil angel?

"Stay right there, and I'll be back with the clothes." She left for a few minutes and returned with a heavy jacket, boots, gloves, and snow pants. She handed them to Lloyd. "Put these on when you get to the Frozen Wasteland. They should be enough to keep you warm."

"Thank yo- I mean, don't expect them back! Muhahaha!" Lloyd laughed. He felt kind of bad for stealing the clothes from the nice lady, but he knew she would appreciate how evil he's being.

And he was right. "You're a quick learner. That's a good trait for a future conqueror," She winked. "Have a safe trip, little dark prince." Lloyd blushed at the nickname.

"I'll be back before you know it!" Lloyd exclaimed. The woman turned to leave, but he called to her. "I didn't catch your name." She slowly turned back around and gave Lloyd a small smile.

"Tell you what. If you come back here and successfully conquer this village, then I'll tell you my name." Lloyd frowned." Hey now, I can't give you everything for free."

"Fine, but you better be here when I come back." Lloyd took all of his things and started to walk out of the village. When he got closer to the exit, he turned around, but there was no one in sight. He sighed and continued. He hoped he would see her again.

Unbeknownst to Lloyd, the woman was still watching as he left Jamanakai. She sent a prayer to any god willing to listen for Lloyd to find the tomb, and for him to eventually leave it unharmed.

"Sorry Lloyd, I rather not had involved someone as young as you in my schemes, but the old man left me little choice." She glared at the brightly colored bracelet on her wrist. Upon closer inspection, anyone could see that it had some strange symbols lining it from top to bottom. Only a select few knew the language these days. "Better be here, huh? If you only

knew."

The woman walked back to her house, keeping to the shadows to avoid crossing paths with any of the villagers. Her steps were silent, and she moved with expertise. Her house was on the outskirts of the village, so avoiding people was rather easy. Sometimes, she wished for a challenge.

She climbed to the top of her house and stared into the distance. Laying back, she wondered what tomorrow would bring.

After the ninja touched back down at the monastery, they headed towards the training grounds for individual practice, something Kai was planning to change.

"Hey guys, I got an idea." The rest of the ninja turned to him. "Clearly, the green ninja thing is still on our minds, and it will not rest until we do something about it." Jay gave him a questioning look.

"Well what do suggest we do?"

"I was thinking along the lines of a tournament." Kai answered.

"I see," Zane observed," If we find whoever is the best at battle, then they are undoubtedly the green ninja."

Cole grinned. "No holding back, boys. I don't want this to be too easy for me."

After finalizing their plans, the ninja made the rest of the journey back to the training grounds. They were greeted by the sight of Nya training on the ninja obstacle course. Jay was (obviously) enraptured, even as Nya was hit in the face and knocked off the course. He walked over to her and offered his hand.

"That was great, Nya. Soon enough, you'll be breaking all our speed records." Nya took his hand and pulled off the ground.

"Thanks, though it will be hard to break yours. I guess being the lightning ninja does have its advantages. And I heard what happened at Jamanakai today. I'm glad it wasn't actually Garmadon. I would hate to see any of you hurt." Jay stared dreamily at her. Kai knew that this could go all day. They had a tournament to begin and they won't be able to get anything done if Jay kept staring at his sister.

"As much as I don't want to ruin your fun, Nya, we are taking over the training grounds for a ninja tournament."

"So, you guys are actually training now instead of wasting the afternoon playing more video games? Maybe there is hope for all of you," Nya quipped.

"Make your jokes now, but you won't be laughing when I dominate this tournament," Kai said as he turned off the obstacle course. After that was done, he walked over to the supply shed and started handing out the kendo equipment to the others.

"As much as I want to watch this macho competition, we are short on supplies and I need to make a list for when I go shopping tomorrow. I'm heading to Jamanakai so if you guys need anything, tell me and I'll add it to the list," Nya replied as she walked back into the monastery. Jay was still gazing in the direction she left in when he felt something smacked into the back of his head. Looking down, he saw that it was his helmet.

"Ow, hey! What was that for?" He glared at Kai as the fire ninja placed on his training gear.

"Unless you've forgotten the last five minutes, we have a tournament to start. I rather not have a fight end early because your head was in the clouds," snapped Kai. Jay grumbled as he put on his gear while sending Kai dirty looks. Once all the ninja were ready, Cole explained the rules.

"First up will be Kai and Jay. After that, I will face off against Zane. The winner of those matches will face off in the end, and the winner will be declared the green ninja. A winner will be determined in the surrender of an opponent, or death."

Zane looked worried. "As much as I like the idea of a tournament, I rather not see any of us die."

"It was a joke, Zane," Cole replied with a flat expression. "Alright Kai and Jay. Into positions."

The two ninja faced each other while Zane left to sit on the sidelines. Kai and Jay readied their weapons and waited for Cole's command.

"Ready boys?" The fire and lightning ninja nodded. "Ninja, Go!"

Jay rushed at Kai while Cole ran out of their way. No one beats Jay in speed, so he sent a flurry of attacks with his nunchucks toward Kai, expertly maneuvering his weapon to confuse the fire ninja. Unfortunately for him, Kai was able to dodge and deflect his attacks.

Kai knew he could keep this up for a while. Jay may be fast, but he doesn't have a lot of stamina. If he continued, Jay would eventually tire out and he would be able to land a finishing blow.

Jay knew that he had to change his tactics, so he jumped back to give them some space and stated rotating his nunchucks. He felt some sort of power building up and concentrated on

that. When Kai moved to attack him, he unleashed the power and-

-ZAP!-

-he electrocuted himself. Kai paused for a second, giving Jay enough time to recover and begin attacking Kai again.

Kai jumped and ran along the wall to easily deflect Jay's attacks and landed where they wouldn't be able to reach the other. Jay spun his nunchucks again, this time to shock his opponent instead of himself, when Kai felt a faint pulse from his sword. He swung his sword in Jay's direction, and the lightning ninja was knocked down by a ball of fire.

He looked at his weapon in astonishment before looking down at Jay and pointing his weapon in his direction.

Jay sighed and surrendered. "Alright, fine! You win, happy?" Kai nodded and put down his weapon and offered his hand to Jay instead. Jay grudgingly grasped it and stood back up.

He went to the sidelines where Cole and Zane were waiting and slouched down to the ground, looking none too happy.

Cole cheered. "Finally, it's my turn!" He and Zane move in front of Kai, facing each other.

Kai looked back and forth between the two ninja. "Ready? Ninja, go!" He quickly rolled back and watched the fight with Jay.

Cole charged at Zane. Although his weapon has a lot of reach, he was disadvantaged when

fighting a long-distance fighter such as Zane, so his best strategy was to get close.

Zane still tried to keep his distance. One good swing from Cole could knock his weapons

away and end the fight. He needed to do something risky.

Zane jumped out of Cole's line of sight and reappeared behind him. He threw one of his

shurikens towards Cole, and it landed at his feet. Cole smirked, thinking that Zane missed,

until he felt a chill at his feet. Looking down, he saw that his feet were frozen in place.

Zane measured the length of Cole's scythe to his grip on the weapon and Zane used his

other shuriken to attack Cole and tire him out, all the while he kept his distance. Just when he

thought he was about to be claimed victor, he felt something pull from behind his feet and he

fell. He looked up to see the scythe against his neck with Cole gripping it at the very end.

Zane lowered his head. "I concede. You win." After Cole removed the scythe, Zane got up

and dissipated the ice. When that was done, he picked up his shurikens and walked over to

the sidelines to sit next to Jay.

Finally, it was Cole's and Kai's turn to fight. They took their stances and looked over to the

losers. Jay sighed.

"I guess I'll do it. For the title of green ninja and whatever, something something, ninja go."

As the fight began, the earth and fire ninja went at each other with everything they got,

swinging and dodging at every chance. They were both tired from the previous fights, but

their pride made them push themselves further.

Cole did a backflip to dodge one of Kai's attacks, when he got an idea. After he landed, he

braced the ground and slammed his scythe onto the earth below him. The weapon caused a tiny earthquake that knocked Kai off his feet.

When Kai landed on the ground, he felt a hot anger take control of him. He was desperate to

win this fight, so desperate, that he didn't feel his weapon heat up with his anger.

He jumped back up and tried to attack Cole with a Spinjitzu attack, but it was cut short when he felt an intense heat come from his weapon.

"What the-? It won't stop heating up!" The others began to look worried, especially when the sword set itself on fire. A few seconds later the weapon was too hot for even Kai could handle, and so he dropped the weapon. Fire spread across the training grounds, and the ninja tried everything they could to put it out, but their attempts were fruitless.

When Sensei heard the commotion from the training grounds instead of the gaming room, he was surprised. He had no idea what could motivate the ninja to train, so he left his room and walked towards the commotion to investigate.

He expected some chaos, but like always, the ninja exceeded his expectations.

Most of the training ground was on fire, and his pupils were running around, panicking, instead of doing anything useful. He looked across the area and found Zane's shurikens laying not too far from him. He picked them up and willed them to eradicate the fire. He then tossed them in the air and watched as they flew around the training grounds, extinguishing the fire with ice. After they were done, they returned into his hands. The ninja stopped panicking and looked to their Sensei.

"What was THAT!" Wu yelled. The ninja looked around sheepishly, but they stayed quiet. Well, all except one. Then again, no one could expect Jay to keep his mouth shut,

"Well, you know, just training and definitely not trying to figure out who the green ninja is. Um, did I say green ninja? That was a weird thing to say because we all definitely know there are no green ninjas in that scroll of yours that we would never read without your permission and, heh heh heh." The other ninja glared at Jay.

Sensei Wu sighed. "You were not ready to know that."

Kai shook his head. "Why not? Isn't it important to know which of us will lead one day? Who is it anyway?"

Wu scoffed. "It is foolish for any of you to believe you're the chosen one. Only when all you reach your full potential, that is when the green ninja will be revealed to us. Listen well, ninja.

If this is what will motivate you to train, then so be it, but be warned. If you let the thought of the green ninja's power consume you, then you could fall the same way my brother did.

Remember that the power you use to save people could corrupt you as well."

The ninja looked at Wu solemnly. "Yes Sensei." They said together. Wu nodded and headed back to his rooms, knowing full well that the ninja would spend the rest of the day training instead of slacking off.

If only he could be happy about it.

Lloyd was shocked when he was standing at the entrance of a Serpentine tomb. Apparently, that woman from Jamanakai was worth trusting after all. He couldn't wait to take over the village so he could finally know her name. Who knows, maybe she would even pledge her allegiance to him when all was said and done.

He looked for a way to open it and found a single small golden snake statue. His time at Darkly's taught him that if he saw anything out of place, then he should probably try to move it. He took the snake statue and pulled, and the ground from under his feet started to move.

He looked down and saw the entrance starting to open. All he saw was more ice, and as he tried to get a closer look, he slipped. He fell into the tomb, and slid all the way to the bottom, definitely not screaming the whole way.

Once he reached the end, he got up and looked at his surroundings. He didn't see any snakes, but there was a lot of ice. So clear that Lloyd could see himself in it.

"What do we have here?" The sound of a male's voice snapped Lloyd out of his thoughts. He quickly turned around to see a large blue cobra with arms and a long tail slithering towards him. He was covered in gold and white markings and carried a golden staff as he stalked towards the boy.

The snake continued. "A young boy all by his lonesome? Pretty useless, but I guess you could do." He stood in front of Lloyd. The child tried to move back, but his back was pressed against an ice stalagmite. The snake stared deeply at him. "Look into my eyes. Give up your mind. I will control you."

Before Lloyd got a good look of his eyes, he slipped on the ice below him by some miraculous luck, or a prayer answered.

The Serpentine looked at his reflection for only a second, but that was what all was needed for his hypnosis to be redirected back to him.

Lloyd stood back up and saw that the threatening snake now had a blank expression on his face. He looked behind him and saw the ice and put everything together.

"Looks like I will be controlling you." He smirked. The snake finally looked at Lloyd and gave him a deep bow.

"I am Slithraa, general of the Hypnobrai. What will you have me and my subordinates do?" He made a motion with his hands. Immediately, the tribe came out of hiding, looking none too pleased. It was obvious that they knew what had just happened. Lloyd hoped that their loyalty to the general would stop them from doing anything drastic.

"Now that I have an army at my side, I can take over Jamanakai Village and force them to hand over all of their candy," Lloyd exclaimed.

"As you wish." Slithraa gave him another deep bow. After, he faced his tribe. "We will head out for Jamanakai Village immediately! Prepare for battle!" The Hypnobrai reluctantly followed his orders, all except one, who gathered enough courage to talk to his general.

"Are you sure it is wise to leave right away before sending some snakes to scout the area? We have been trapped down here for a long time. We don't know what has changed. This could even be a trap. The humans could be waiting outside to finally put an end to us," The snake reasoned.

Slithraa gave the Hypnobrai a glare. "You dare question me, your general! I decide what's best for the tribe, not you, Skales! If you want to stay as my second in command, I recommend you listen to what I say without any questions. Do I make myself clear?"

Skales grudgingly bowed. "Yes, general."

By the time Nya left for Jamanakai Village, the ninja were already up and training. They thought a lot of what Sensei said about them becoming like Garmadon. None of the ninja would ever dream of betraying the others just for power, and the reality check from yesterday really stuck in their minds.

The ninja did not give up on becoming the green ninja, though. They just want to do it the right way.

While the ninja trained, Wu spent his time in his room. He was looking over his smoke visions, trying to find any threat that had found its way to Ninjago. Although he did this every day and he rarely found anything, he was still compelled to continue. The moment he stopped was the moment he gave up on the lands his father created.

Wu thought that this day would be as uneventful as the last until he saw panic at Jamanakai Village. Focusing on that vision, he saw his nephew parading around the village with a wheelbarrow full of sweets. Aiding him were… Serpentine!

Wu quickly got up and ran towards the training grounds where the ninja were. Once he reached them, he quickly got their attention.

"The Serpentine are in Jamanakai Village with my nephew! You must head there immediately!"

Cole raised his hands. "Whoa Sensei, calm down. The kid was only threatening to use the Serpentine. There's no way he found any," He reasoned.

"My visions have not failed me yet! Everyone in Jamanakai village, including Nya, are in great danger," Wu urged.

"Oh no, Nya!" Kai shouted. The ninja began to take the matter seriously and headed for their dragons. With the grace of a ninja, they mounted onto their dragons and headed towards Jamanakai, no tricks or showing off.

Wu headed back into the monastery, looking for a weapon as ancient as the Serpentine themselves. Hopefully the problem would be dealt with before he got there.

Once the ninja reached Jamanakai, they stayed out of sight, looking over buildings to assess the situation. Wu was correct in his predictions. There were blue snakes all over the village, one of them possessing a tail.

Kai couldn't believe his eyes. "So, the Serpentine are real. What's next, vampires?"

Cole shushed him. "Keep it down. You don't want them to see us until we know what we're up against."

"Hey look," whispered Jay, "the people here are acting weird." He was right. The villagers were aiding the Serpentine in collecting candy, but instead of fear in their eyes, their faces were ominously blank.

"This does not bode well," Zane said.

"The people have been hypnotized," Said a hushed voice. The ninja yelped and quickly hid. They looked down and saw Nya hiding in an alley.

"Nya, you're all right!" Kai exclaimed. He jumped down from the building and gave his sister a hug. The rest of the ninja followed him down.

Jay questioned Nya. "Hypnotized, you mean those snakes are controlling them. How is that possible?"

"If you stare directly in their eyes, then it's all over," She answered.

"So how do we stop them and free the villagers?" Zane asked.

"The Serpentine in charge is the only one holding a staff. I once read that the Serpentine staffs hold an antivenin capable of reversing the effects that their tribe causes," Nya explained.

Cole nodded and gave out instructions. "Alright boys, you heard her. Our aim is the staff. Do not look into the eyes of the snakes and we might be able to save everyone here. Jay, Kai, and I will focus on the staff. Zane, you deal with Lloyd. Nya, you try to attract the villagers away from the fight. We don't want anyone to get hurt" The ninja and Nya agreed and went off towards their destinations.

Nya quickly found some of the villagers. "Hey," she waved. The hypnotized people look in

Nya's direction. "Look at me, not hypnotized at all. I bet the snakes wouldn't like that." The people ran towards her, extending their arms to capture her. Nya successfully dodged their hands and had them chase her all around the village.

Meanwhile Kai, Cole, and Jay picked some fights with the Serpentine, directing their attention away from Lloyd. Zane threw his shurikens in front of the child's wheelbarrow, stopping it in its tracks.

The white ninja approached Lloyd. "We didn't deal with you properly the first time around. This time, we won't make the same mistake."

Lloyd was furious. "You dare come back to stop me again! Not this time, ninja!" He grabbed onto his wheelbarrow, but it wouldn't budge. He looked at the wheels to see them frozen in place.

"Going somewhere?" Zane cheekily asked.

Lloyd backed up. "Retreat!" he yelled. He ran towards the serpentine for protection.

"Retreat!" The general repeated. All around, the serpentine started to leave. He began to leave himself when he felt something knock the staff out of his hands. Looking in front of him, he saw the black ninja standing over his staff. He reached to grab it, but the compulsion to retreat was greater due to Lloyd's influence on him, and so he slithered away.

Cole picked up the staff from the ground. When he looked up, he was staring right into the eyes of a serpentine.

Skales spoke. "That's right ninja. Look into my eyes. I will control you." Right before he could demand for the staff back, he felt a searing pain on his face. A female that the zombified villagers were chasing was able to land a kick on him. He had no back up, so he left while he still could, regretfully leaving the staff.

Cole stood dazed for a second before Nya broke him out of his stupor. "You have the staff. Quickly, throw the antivenin in the fountain." Cole snapped back into reality and plucked the antivenin out of the staff and threw it in the fountain. Within seconds the water gained a bluish hue. Zane used his Spinjitzu to collect some of the water and splashed it onto the hypnotized villagers that Nya gathered.

Slowly, everyone in the village were freed from control. When they freed all the villagers, Nya collected the antivenin from the fountain and placed it back into the staff, in case they needed it for another day.

By the time they were all done Wu made it to the village. Kai approached the old man.

"I'm sorry, Sensei Wu. If we took Lloyd seriously the first time, then the serpentine wouldn't have been freed."

Wu nodded. "A great price had to be paid to learn this lesson, so don't forget it. I won't pretend that the threat the serpentine poses isn't a serious one, but as long as you continue to grow, even they won't be able to stand up to you."

'Plus', Wu thought, 'as long as it's just one tribe, then it shouldn't be too hard to reseal them.'

Zane walked up to Wu. "What I'm wondering is how Lloyd found a tomb in the first place?"

"Indeed," Wu agreed, although, he had his suspicions. Though, he would have to confirm them another day. His priority now was getting the staff to the monastery. "Let us leave, ninja. You have a lot of training for the times ahead of us."

The ninja agreed without hesitation and together they left Jamanakai.

'This has not been a good day,' Skales thought as he clutched his nose. He made it to the outskirts of town when he ran out of adrenalin and started to really feel the pain in his nose.

When he looked at his claws, he saw blood on them, which only made the bad day worse. He had nothing but ice for his nose back at the tomb because his general believed that stealing candy would be more worthwhile than stealing medical supplies.

He couldn't really blame the general for the lack of reasoning, but he could blame him for getting hypnotized by Lloyd. What kind of general was defeated by a defenseless child?!

When Skales looked away from his hand, his eyes connected to the face of a human. She was staring right in his eyes, shock written all over her face, but no fear. He debated if hypnotizing her would bring any merit when he heard someone approaching the area. He was surrounded and he knew he would have to fight to escape, but before he could attack the female grabbed his arm and shoved him behind some trash cans. She put her finger to her lips in a shushing manner and looked away.

Another villager, a man this time, entered the area and saw the girl. "Oh, it's you. Have you seen any snakes over here? If you haven't noticed, we were just attacked, but the ninja saved

us! Some of us are checking all around in case there are some stragglers looking for trouble."

The woman couldn't meet his eyes. Weakly she said, "No one have been over here." She then turned her face away from him.

The man gave her a weird look and nodded. "Ok, then." He started to walk away, but a muffled 'freak' was heard by both the woman and Skales. When he was gone, the woman looked at Skales again.

"Sorry about shoving you like that, but I couldn't let him see you. Who knows what they would've done to you, especially in your condition?" Her voice was clearer now, like talking to a Serpentine was much easier than talking to a human. She grabbed his arm again and hoisted him back up. "Follow me, my house is close."

Skales yanked his arm away and finally said something. "Why should I go with you?"

She gave him a determined look. "Your nose is bleeding, and it could be bad if its broken. I have some supplies in my house that'll help fix you up, but I won't force you to come if you don't want to." With that, she turned around, walking in the direction that Skales can only guess was her house. He could just leave and forget about her, but he was curious and in a lot of pain, so he opted to follow the woman.

Her house was right at the edge at the village, so Skales didn't have to worry about there being any people around. In fact, her house was so isolated that it almost seemed abandoned.

They entered the house and the woman pointed her hand towards a cushion on the floor.

"Please sit," was all she said before leaving the room, probably grabbing some supplies.

Skales sat down and waited. The room he was in was mostly bare, not at all like someone lived there. He was starting to think this was all a trap until the woman came back, alone, with some medical supplies and a glass of water. She placed the items down and played with some bottle for a second. When she opened it, she took out a couple of weird looking spheres the size of pebbles. The woman handed them to him.

"These are pills. They will help alleviate the pain. Make sure to swallow these whole, and then take a sip of the water." Skales looked skeptically at the hand. The woman sighed. "They're not poison, but if you don't trust me, then I won't make you take them."

Skales thought for a moment, but he decided that he already trusted her this far, so he took the pills from her and did as he was instructed. The woman smiled warmly and began examining and cleaning his nose. While she did, Skales had some things he wanted to ask her.

"Why did you help me?"

The woman paused for a second. "You were hurt and needed help. A human caused this mess, so you didn't deserve to suffer from it."

Skales was confused. "What do you mean that a human caused this? We were obviously attacking the village."

"Serpentine must follow the will of the general, and your general was in the control of Lloyd."

Skales was shocked. "How did you know that?"

"Serpentine wouldn't follow the demands of a child, especially a general, unless they were forced to. Lloyd is hardly intimidating and has no strength or persuasion skill, so the only logical answer is that Lloyd was somehow able to control the general, probably by redirecting his hypnotizing powers," She reasoned. "You know, you should probably do something about that. You are second in command, aren't ya?"

"Now how would you know that?" She couldn't have gotten that much from watching the battle.

"Your scales," She answered. "From the books I've read, those are the markings of a Hypnobrai second in command. Am I wrong?"

He was silent for a second. "Impressive," he eventually said, "but what could I do about the general. Even if I get the staff back the general wouldn't take the antivenin if Lloyd stops him! And he's the general, I can't disobey him without any serious consequences." Even though the Hypnobrai knew their general was hypnotized, they were still loyal to him.

She looked right into his eyes again. "Then you must become more important than Lloyd."

"And how will I do that? The most important being in the tribe that could override our power is… the general." Skales' eyes widened, finally realizing what the woman was implying. "B-but, the staff! I still need the staff!"

The woman smirked. "You have control of the earth ninja, don't you? If you make proper use of him, then you could easily get the staff back." She even knew of that?! How could a person know so much just by observing the battle?! Hell, the ninja had yet to figure that out yet.

She stood up and offered her hand. He took it and she helped him up. "Well," she said, "your nose isn't broken, but it may hurt for a while." She handed him some weird bag. When he touched it, he noticed it was smooth and cold. "Put that against your nose if the painkillers don't work. Though, you probably won't need it when you get back to the Frozen Wasteland."

She even knew the location of the tomb! Skales could tell that she was one very dangerous woman.

She directed him to the door and walked outside. When they were both standing in front of her house, she pointed at something on the ground. "This leads to the sewers." She picked up the metal lid and pushed it to the side. "If you travel north through here, it'll lead you out of town. They're old, so you will not encounter any humans down there." Skales nodded.

"Before I leave, I have one question."

"Yes?"

There was one question that had been nagging him throughout the encounter. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Aia, and I'm just a human who likes snakes."

Skales didn't believe that that was all too it, but he needed to leave. He rather not be interrogated by his general about his whereabouts. Plus, he got plans to make.

He climbed into the sewer, but before he closed the lid, he heard the woman, no, Aia, said

"Goodbye Skales."

He closed the lid and descended into the sewers. "Of course, she also knows my name." And he left.


End file.
